News

Hundreds of headteachers gathered in Birmingham last week for the annual conference of the Association of School and College Leaders.

The event hosted Damian Hinds’ first speech to the profession since he was appointed as education secretary, and keynotes from Amanda Spielman, the chief inspector of schools, and Lucy Powell, the former shadow education secretary.

1. School funding is ‘tight’

Although delegates responded positively to Hinds’ speech, there was unrest when the panel tried to move on from the funding issue, prompting warnings from Barton about leaders’ behaviour in the hall.

Despite the brief outburst, Hinds had an altogether more positive experience than his predecessor Justine Greening, who was heckled last year when she brought up the government’s now-defunct grammar schools plans.

2. Ofsted isn’t ruling out judging schools on teacher workload

Amanda Spielman told heads her organisation is keen to do its bit to reduce teacher workload, and gave a commitment to remove some of the things Ofsted does that “create workload”.

However, the chief inspector appears to be in two minds about how Ofsted can use its inspections to identify over-working of teachers.

Paul Drechsler, the president of the Confederation of British Industry, warned that curriculum reform should be driven not just by the government, but by a group made up of education leaders, businesses, politicians, young people and parents.

Drechsler was one of dozens of business leaders who attended the conference as part of a drive by the union to work more closely with the corporate world.

4. The roles of RSCs, Ofsted and the ESFA will be ‘clarified’

The blurred lines between the duties of regional schools commissioners, Ofsted inspectors and government funding bosses continue to confound school leaders, and ministers seem to have clocked on.

Geoff Barton told Schools Week he welcomed Hinds’ promise of clarity, and said leaders had found their “heads spinning in all directions” as a result of the blurring of the lines between official bodies.

6. The government wants to ‘strip away’ unnecessary workload

The education secretary announced a strategy to “drive recruitment and boost retention of teachers”, which will involve working with the unions and other professional bodies to “devise ways of attracting, and keeping, the brightest and best graduates”.

The rate at which new teachers enter the profession has been falling since 2013, and although new teachers still outnumber those who leave the profession, the gap has narrowed substantially in recent years.

7. Labour MPs will investigate school accountability

Lucy Powell, the former shadow education secretary and a high-ranking member of the parliamentary education committee, represented Labour at the conference on Friday.

The Manchester Central MP warned during her speech that the “unchecked explosion” in academies has led to increasing problems with transparency, financial probity and accountability.

8. The new education secretary is trying to make friends

Hinds’ speech heaped praise on school leaders, calling teaching “one of the highest callings, the noblest of roles”, and highlighted “the hard work, the care, the imagination shown by teachers and leaders” during school visits he has made in his first two months in the job.

Appearing alongside Spielman and Barton, Hinds insisted that everyone is “on the same side”, and said “we all need to take collective ownership of the workload burden on schools”.

This burden “isn’t a problem with a quick fix”, Hinds said, acknowledging that government had played a role in creating extra workload with the “pace of change” over the past eight years.

Though light on policy proposals, Hinds’ speech did strike a conciliatory tone, but many heads will be wondering if he’ll put his money where his mouth is.